Separator having a blade

ABSTRACT

A feeder module for feeding envelopes into a mail handling machine, which feeder module has, from upstream to downstream relative to a direction of advance of the mail items, a tray for receiving a stack of envelopes, a device for selecting said envelopes one-by-one, a separator having an active separation zone formed by a sharp cutting portion for separating the envelop flaps from the envelope bodies, and a moistener for moistening the flaps separated in this way.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates exclusively to the field of mail handling, and it relates more particularly to a feeder module for feeding mail items into a mail handling machine, which feeder module has an improved separator.

PRIOR ART

For example, French Patent Application No. 2 833 885 filed in the name of the Applicant discloses a moistener device for moistening envelope flaps that is designed to be integrated into a feeder module for feeding mail items into a postage meter or “franking machine”, and that includes a separator for separating the flap of the envelope from the body of the envelope, and suction means disposed immediately in front of the separator so as, in co-operation with a presser finger, to press the envelope towards said suction means and to detach the flap from the body of the envelope, and thus to make it easier for it to pass under the separator.

That device is generally satisfactory for all types of envelopes. However, after a very large number of envelopes have passed through it, a certain amount of slackening occurs in the pressure exerted by the presser finger. In particular, when a previously closed envelope has its flap improperly stuck down and partially open, the front of said flap behaves like an open flap and is inserted under the separator until it encounters the start of a stuck-down zone that blocks its progress and thus causes a jam in the feeder module.

OBJECT AND DEFINITION OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide a mail-handling feeder module whose separator avoids any jam resulting from improperly closed envelopes. Another object of the invention is to form said feeder in simple and inexpensive manner and so that integrating it into a conventional high-throughput meter or machine can be obtained without any difficulty.

These objects are achieved by a feeder module for feeding envelopes into a mail handling machine, which feeder module has, from upstream to downstream relative to a direction of advance of the mail items, a tray for receiving a stack of envelopes, a device for selecting said envelopes one-by-one, a separator for separating the envelop flaps from the envelope bodies, and a moistener for moistening the flaps separated in this way, wherein said separator has an active separation zone formed by a sharp cutting portion.

Thus, with this particular configuration of the separator, those closed envelopes whose flaps are improperly stuck-down are handled without giving rise to jams, the other envelopes continuing to be guided properly as they were before.

Advantageously, said sharp cutting portion has a sharp edge disposed immediately below the top level of a conveyor table for conveying envelopes. Thus, it in now way constitutes a blocking element that prevents the envelopes from advancing.

The sharp cutting portion may be formed by a steel or composite blade.

Preferably, said cutting portion is detachable from a rigid portion of the separator. It may be connected to said rigid portion by removable fastener means of the runner, hinge, or rail type, for example, or indeed of the type constituted merely by a screw.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other characteristics and advantages of the present invention appear more clearly from the following description given by way of non-limiting indication and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a feeder including a separator of the invention; and

FIGS. 2 and 3 are diagrammatic views showing the principle of processing an envelope that is improperly closed with the separator of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic perspective view of a mail item feeder module designed to be disposed at the inlet of a mail handling machine. Such a module can naturally also be integrated directly into said machine.

The mail items 10 that can be handled by the module are of all types, i.e. they can be constituted by “mixed mail”, in particular envelopes having flaps open at 90° (also referred to as “nested” envelopes), envelopes having folded-down flaps that are to be closed, or indeed envelopes having closed flaps. But the mail items can also be mere documents (e.g. A4-format documents), labels, or inserts of various formats and thicknesses and on which a postal imprint is then printed directly.

Upstream relative to the direction of advance of the mail items, and in addition to its usual portions (not shown) for document reception and for selection, the feeder module has a separator 12 for separating the flap 10A of the envelope from the body 10B of the envelope, and a moistener 14 for moistening the flap 10A once said flap is separated from the body 10B of the envelope. This moistener is, for example, formed by a brush 14A whose end rests on the surface of a reservoir of water 14B disposed under a conveyor table 16 for conveying mail items through the feeder module, a flap then being moistened as it passes between the brush and the reservoir.

Drive means 18A, 18B are conventionally disposed both at the inlet and at the outlet of the separator so as to convey the envelopes during the phases of separating and of moistening the envelope flaps and so as then to convey them to the next module of the mail handling machine, which module is, in principle, a print module (not shown) for printing a postal imprint. In general, the inlet rollers of the print module act as means for closing the previously moistened envelopes, unless the feeder module has its own separate closure means.

As is known from Patent Application FR 2 833 885, suction means 20 are also provided that are disposed under the conveyor table 16 and whose suction opening 16A opens out into the path of the envelope flaps, immediately in front of the separator and downstream from the conveyor rollers 18A, so as to make it particularly easy to detach said flaps relative to the bodies of the envelopes, in particular when the envelopes are of large thicknesses. Finally, in order to facilitate “clean” closure of the flaps of closed envelopes and “clean” opening of the flaps of envelopes whose flaps are folded down, a presser 30 hinged to the frame of the feeder in opposition to resilient means 32 serves to compress the flaps of the envelopes towards the opening 16A of the suction duct as they pass over said duct.

For handling nested envelopes (whose flaps are open at 90°), the feeder is advantageously provided with a groove 34 provided in the conveyor table 16, all the way along a referencing wall 36 of said feeder. This wall 36 for aligning or “jogging” the mail items also includes, under the conveyor table, a stationary deflector (not shown) that is shaped in the form of a delta wing and that servers for guiding and progressively folding down the flaps of the envelopes from their initial positions at 90° to terminal positions close to 30° making it possible for them to pass under the separator and to be moistened under the best possible conditions.

In accordance with the invention, the separator 12, in its active separation zone, has a sharp cutting portion 12A that is advantageously detachable and whose sharp edge 38 is disposed immediately below the top level of the conveyor table 16. Preferably, said sharp cutting portion is implemented by a steel, composite, or ceramic blade whose sharp edge is of small thickness (of the order of a few tenths of one millimeter). It can be fastened to the rigid portion 12B of the separator removably by any means, e.g. by a screw 40 or by any other analogous element such as a rail, a runner, or more simply by a hinge. When the separator is made of a lightweight metal (of aluminum, for example), it is possible to obtain a sharp edge merely by grinding the metal at its periphery.

Operation of the separator in the envelope feeder module of the invention is explained below with reference is to FIGS. 2 and 3, FIG. 2 showing the arrival of an envelope having a flap that is improperly closed and FIG. 3 showing how that envelope is handled by the separator of the invention. In the first position, the envelope, which is nipped initially between the drive rollers 18A, is subjected to the suction means 20 which detach the improperly stuck-down front portion 10C of flap of the envelope and direct it under the separator 12 which reacts as its does in the presence of an open envelope by performing its normal separation function, the body of the envelope 10B passing over the separator.

In FIG. 3, the envelope has advanced over the separator and said separator is soon to encounter the stuck-down zone 10D between the flap and the body of the envelope, which zone, in the prior art, would have caused ragged tearing and a jam. However, with the invention, by means of the presence of a genuine cutting blade in the active portion of the separator, the flap is cut along a cutting line 10E as it advances under the separator, The improperly closed envelope with its flap partly open thus finds itself at the outlet of the separator with the open portion 10C ready for closure after passing through the moistener. At the end of this closure step, the flap is fully closed on either side of the cutting line 10E.

With the structure of the invention, it is thus possible to handle those envelopes which are stuck-down improperly without giving rise to jams. In addition, the simplicity of the means implemented makes it possible for them to be integrated into a conventional feeder structure or into a conventional mail handling machine structure without any structural modification being necessary. It suffices merely to replace the existing separator with the separator of the invention that is of the same size and shape except for its active portion which is made sharp. 

1. A feeder module for feeding envelopes into a mail handling machine, which feeder module has, from upstream to downstream relative to a direction of advance of the mail items, a tray for receiving a stack of envelopes, a device for selecting said envelopes one-by-one, a separator for separating the envelop flaps from the envelope bodies, and a moistener for moistening the flaps separated in this way, wherein said separator has an active separation zone formed by a sharp cutting portion.
 2. A feeder module according to claim 1, wherein said sharp cutting portion has a sharp edge disposed immediately below the top level of a conveyor table for conveying envelopes.
 3. A feeder module according to claim 1, wherein said sharp cutting portion is formed by a steel or ceramic blade.
 4. A feeder module according to claim 1, wherein said cutting portion is detachable from a rigid portion of the separator.
 5. A feeder module according to claim 4, wherein said sharp cutting portion is connected to said rigid portion by removable fastener means of the runner, hinge, or rail type, for example.
 6. A feeder module according to claim 5, wherein said removable fastener means are constituted by a screw. 